This morning, Luca Sbisa returned to practice wearing a red no-contact jersey. However, there's no timeline for him yet, and he was actually placed on injured reserve in the afternoon. Sbisa looked OK after practice, so I assume there wasn't a setback.
In his stead, winger Tomas Hyka has received his first NHL call-up. With the Golden Knights playing well, we'll see if Hyka gets into a game, or if there's a corresponding move tomorrow. James Neal, David Perron, and Jonathan Marchessault all sat out practice this morning, though Gerard Gallant indicated they were all on maintenance days.
The gregarious 24-year-old is coming off a four-point night against the Grand Rapids Griffiths on Friday. He has 12 points in 16 games for the Chicago Wolves this year.
I asked Wolves GM Wendell Young what Hyka has done to earn this call-up:
His speed is his asset. Has top NHL speed. Will be great in the high tempo, [counterattack] game that Vegas plays. Great hands when he cuts to the net.Much better in his own end [from beginning of season]. But still needs improvement. His speed applies back pressure.
Also, here are a couple Hyka pieces from earlier this year: Tomas Hyka Finally Feels Like a Hockey Player Rocky on Shipachyov; Catching Up w/ Hyka; Barbashev & Language Barrier
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Even after last night's 5-2 win over the Florida Panthers, Gerard Gallant refused to feed the "revenge" narrative.
"I just coached another game," said Gallant.
The players, however, told a different story.
"It was like last game for Flower, we wanted that win so much for him. I think tonight was the same thing," Jonathan Marchessault asserted. "We wanted that win for Turk. It ended last season for him on a terrible and weird note."
Poetically, this contest would end on a "terrible and weird note" for Panthers executives, when Reilly Smith found Marchessault for the empty netter which would ice the game.
Marchessault's respect for Aleksander Barkov is enormous.
"He's a great defensive player," said Marchessault. "He's probably the best player I've played with."
So for Marchessault, winning this battle with Barkov must feel pretty good:
"I was so tired. [Barkov] was chasing me everywhere," admitted Marchessault. "I knew [Haula] was on the side of the net. We had a good bounce there."
By the way, Barkov did nothing wrong on this play. This is just a testament to Marchessault's persistence.
Pluses
Vegas dominated the third period, outshooting Florida 20-2.
"We started to get our legs," said Gallant. "We weren’t turning pucks over in the third period. [We] really played tight in the neutral zone."
Evgenii Dadonov, who more or less had his run of the ice in the first 40 minutes, found less space in the final frame.
Engelland does fine job here staying with Dadonov. Engelland clearly expecting stretch pass to Dadonov, angles him off before slippery winger can get free pic.twitter.com/7R5ov0bAdE
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 18, 2017
"We started to forecheck real well to [create] mistakes," indicated Gallant. "The guys were starting to drive to the net."
It takes a village to score a goal: Malgin straining for possession, but Haula beats him to it. Theodore keeps it in. Karlsson comes down hard on the forecheck. Then Miller! #VegasBorn pic.twitter.com/S2DHIUU16c
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 18, 2017
On Thursday, Nate Schmidt handled the load against 6'3" Evgeni Malkin. Last night, Schmidt received a heavy diet of the equally-massive Barkov. On both nights, Schmidt led Vegas defensemen in Corsi For %.
While Barkov and linemate Nick Bjugstad had their share of chances, Schmidt and partner Brayden McNabb were also able to quiet them in the final frame.
"They pose a little bit of a problem," Schmidt deadpanned, when speaking about Barkov and Malkin. "Especially a guy like Barkov, he's a hidden gem in this league.
"You can't let them get too close to you. As soon as they get on your hip, I'm not big enough or strong enough to handle them.
"You have to get them outside their comfort zone. Those guys like it when they're in tight, they can go in between your stick and your skates and you get yourself looking down at the puck. That's when they're at their best. The longer you can keep them away, the puck away from their body."
Schmidt also tallied an electric goal:
Watch Schmidt go #VegasBorn pic.twitter.com/3aHaHSNfhM
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 18, 2017
Minuses
For both teams, it was an evenly sloppy first two periods.
A lot of sloppy, burn the tape hockey played by both sides so far #VegasBorn #FlaPanthers
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 18, 2017
On the Matheson goal, one of the #VegasBorn forwards has to pick up the late man pic.twitter.com/7jiErR2Rvj
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 18, 2017
#VegasBorn plays aggressive, 5-man forecheck, so this will happen. But when the dman's pinch doesn't keep it in, this is the danger pic.twitter.com/NFLO3eIOpu
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 18, 2017
But the Knights did what good teams do. So while it wasn't a complete 60 minutes like against Pittsburgh, they managed to put away an inferior team in the third.
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Florida minority owner Doug Cifu created some controversy on Twitter a couple days ago with this tweet, which appears to be cutting down ex-Panther Smith:
oh word? pic.twitter.com/2DF2YG7qXo
— Alex Prewitt (@alex_prewitt) December 17, 2017
I was trying to be nice and it was totally misconstrued so I deleted it. I’m happy for the guy since he’s playing well. He’s a good guy and always was nice to me. Actually root for the GKs since it’s great for hockey not 2nite though...
— Doug Cifu (@Dougielarge) December 17, 2017
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